1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless networks, and more particularly to device connection management in wireless networking environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In electronic networking environments, a challenging and persistent problem for end-users is managing the connection of peripherals and devices to the network. For wireless networks, one of the key challenges is association and connectivity of known and trusted peripheral devices and other networked information handling systems into a secure network model. The proliferation of wireless technologies such as wireless wide area networks (WWANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs) and wireless personal area networks (WPANs) that enable peripheral devices into a network (be it local, ad-hoc or infrastructure) drives complexity in terms of ease-of-use, configuration, management and security. Current wireless networking technology employs individual wireless device profiles (e.g., Windows zero config, and other proprietary software configuration utilities) and WLAN authentication and security mechanisms (e.g., 802.11i).
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is currently employed in applications that vary from inventory management and traffic telematics (e.g., traffic toll tags) to security ID badges and pet tags, and supply chain management systems.